Pochettino parcels out more praise for pleasant surprise Cole Palmer

There wasn’t much to be happy about in yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Brentford, especially after the first 20-25 minutes of the first half, but whatever there was happy to be about, Cole Palmer was likely at the heart of it.

The 21-year-old has made a fantastic start to his Chelsea career, and has quickly become not only the main orchestrator of our attack, but the most consistent part of it — which is as much an indictment of the rest of the offense, as it is commendation for Palmer himself.

Mauricio Pochettino, who wasn’t sugarcoating the result too much, did reserve some praise for Palmer when asked about the youngster’s performance.

“He’s showing a great performance, character and personality. You know, it’s always about the team and when you don’t win. For sure he is disappointed and we are all disappointed.

“We are happy in the way he arrived. He arrived in the last moment of the transfer window, he’s playing like he’s here for 10 years and showing his character and personality.

“[...] You create expectations when you sign a player but of course, I cannot say I did expect that. If I say I expect I am lying. You always feel the player when you have the player. From day one when he starts to train you start to see the talent but the team needs time to be much better.”

-Mauricio Pochettino; source: Football.London

We haven’t had too many surprises of the pleasant kind so far this season, which makes Palmer’s immediate adaptation and impact all the more gratifying.

Hopefully it continues ... and the rest of these chuckleheads follow his example as well.